Water Supply Loan

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 47, 26 February 1936, Page 6

Water Supply Loan

(To tho Editor.) Sir, —Ever since the scour pipe at the Tiritea dam was blocked by a tree stump and the reservoir allowed to silt up, public confidence has been shaken in the Tiritea as a future waiter supply scheme for the city. No policy of steady development to the limit of revenue received has been pursued since but instead yearly £3OOO to £4OOO surplus revenue from the waterworks account has been transferred to tho general account. Engineers’ recommendations have not been carried out, largely because ratepayers have refused to sanction loans. Ten years ago the planned development or the Tiritea included an additional reservoir and if we refuse to sanction tho cost, wo deserve to go short.

As I was unable last summer to understand the very low water pressure, I made a special trip to the reservoir and found that a good Sin. was running to waste over the spillway. Ono naturally concluded that owing to the excessive draw-off, the pipe lines into tho city wero too small to permit the supply available at Tiritea reaching the consumer, so water was actually going to waste while our gardens suffered. Owing to the limited capacity of our present reservoir, it has been proved that of the water available every year, only about one-quarter reaches the city. We can conserve the supply now going to waste by increasing the storage capacity at Tiritea with the necessary flood pass-by to avoid discolouration.

In the past, ratepayers have refused to sanction several loans for an improved water supply, and it is unlikely that many would vote fora £250,000 to £300,000 Pohangina- scheme with 30 miles of pipe line to maintain, while Tiritea, with only five miles of pipe line to Fitzherbert bridge, continues to be neglected and undeveloped. Our engineer has already advised that the volume of water available from tho Kahuterawa stream is definitely insufficient for the needs of our city, but would in future years be used as a supplementary supply to the Tiritea. May I emphasise tho fact that the present loans, if carried, will not involve any increase in the water rate. If carried and the work completed, the equally important project, that of increasing the storage capacity at Tiritea, shouid be advocated, as it should be possible to get a substantial Government subsidy for such an important undertaking. By saving even half of the existing supply now going to waste, we can, with the aid of artesians, serve double our present population, and even if we look ahead to the time when our population will more than double, we will also have more than double the number of ratepayers to meet the cost of any improved service found necessary. / I sincerely hope that ratepayers will support the council by voting for both loan proposals on Wednesday. As a member of the last council, I had .ample opportunity of considering various proposals to improve our city’s water supply, and agree that the loans before ratepayers represent the minimum requirements of the city, and if carried will centre interest in the future development of the Tiritea supply besides improving the pressure all over the city immediately the proposed w r ork is completed.—l am, etc., H. B. FREE. .